The Willows 2 - The Return
by Don'tForgetTheNotes
Summary: It's five months since the horrors of The Willows but now a familiar face has reappeared and the demons that plagued the StarKids are back for more fun. Contains Breredith
1. Chapter 1

So I've been thinking about a sequel to The Willows for a while! Hope you like it! I know I keep saying I'm done with fanfic but seeing as I have The Willows as an actual story now anyway, it's always good to think out ideas in a good old fanfic!

I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story

Enjoy!

* * *

Meredith sighed as she walked down the street. It was a cold December evening and all she cared about was getting home from work as quick as she could so she could take a nice hot bath. It was five months since they had witnessed the horrors of The Willows and three months since Denise had disappeared. The police had shut the case on her disappearance as there was no evidence at all to point to where she could be. It really was like her and her car had simply ceased to exist. She sighed and pressed on down the darkened street. It was then that a gust of wind brought her to a stop as her hair whipped around and into her face. She flapped her hands and tried to pull the hair from her mouth when something caught her attention. Meredith's eyes widened as she saw she was stood under a canopy for what must have been a hotel, the hotel was called...The Willows. She stumbled backwards and stared up at the name.

The street was silent around her, there was no one else in sight. No one had seen her stop and stare so after a moment, Meredith crossed the street and pushed on, wanting nothing more than to get home and lock her door. The rest of her walk home was uneventful and soon she was curled up on the sofa in her dressing gown with a cup of coffee. Brian was working late so she probably wouldn't see him before she went to bed. As Meredith flicked carelessly through the channels her mind began to drift to the name of that hotel. She had walked down that street so many times and she had never noticed it before. Why had she only noticed it today? It felt like there was a reason behind it. Something was making Meredith feel really uneasy. It felt like something was going to happen... Meredith was suddenly so on edge so after a moment she stood up and paced around the sitting room. Why had all this happened to them? Jaime was dead, Lauren was dead, Denise had disappeared. She had never believed in the supernatural...but now she did.

She finally came to a stop by the bookcase. In front of the many books were various photos of her and her friends. Meredith couldn't understand why Denise had just disappeared. She sighed and picked up the photo of herself, Denise, Julia, Brian, Joe and Nick. They all looked so happy but there was something... Meredith stared at the Denise in the photo. Why hadn't she noticed before?! There was something about Denise's eyes...they weren't her eyes, Meredith felt like she was looking at a stranger. She gasped and dropped the photo in shock. Whoever that was in that photo, it wasn't Denise.

* * *

Joe looked up as the front door opened and then closed. Julia popped her head in and said hello before continuing into the kitchen. After they had returned to Chicago from The Willows he, Julia and Jeff had all decided to be roommates. It worked out well for them but it also kept fresh the memories of what had brought them together. Things had been hard for them all over the past few months and since Denise had disappeared they had almost been at a lost. The group was trying to move on but it was so hard, everything reminded Joe of Lauren, more than once he had thought he'd seen her on the street but it had never been her, she was gone.

He pushed the thought from his mind as Julia came into the room and sat down. They sat in silence and both stared at the TV. Most nights they ended up sat in silence, it had taken them so much to just get through the day that they literally had no energy at all for idle chitchat. Joe blinked as he realised Julia's phone was ringing. He watched as she pulled it out of her pocket and answered it.

"Hey Mere, what's up?"

"Are you all together?"

Julia sat up as she heard the urgency in Meredith's voice. What had made her sound so panicked? An uneasy feeling was finding its way into Julia's stomach, something was wrong.

"Erm well Jeff's working still but Joe and I are here, why?"

"Denise didn't just disappear. That thing that possessed Jaime and Lauren, it's possessing her too. That's why she ran away."

She listened as Meredith went on to explain the photo. Julia felt the uneasy feeling being replaced with a feeling of sadness. Meredith was clearly finding something in nothing. Denise wasn't coming back, they'd never know why she had gone but it wasn't because she was being possessed. Julia knew Meredith had been finding it hard to come to terms with what had happened so she guessed this was the same thing again.

"Sweetie, you need to calm down. We all know that there isn't a reason for why Denise just disappeared, we'll never know why she did. But believe me when I say she isn't being possessed."

It broke her heart to say it but they couldn't keep thinking in those terms. What they had experienced was unexplainable yes but they couldn't keep jumping to conclusions. If they did, they would never be free of their nightmares. She and Meredith spoke a while longer before ending the call. Julia told Joe what had been said before slowly leaving the room. She was suddenly so tired, all Julia wanted to do was sleep. A lot of things today had made her have flashbacks to spending time with Jaime and Lauren. She couldn't believe they were gone, her best friends, her roommates... Suddenly, all Julia could think of was holding Jaime as she took her last breath and watching Lauren as she sacrificed herself to try and save them. This was all too much to bear so after a moment, Julia turned on some music and tried to drown at her thoughts.

* * *

Brian was walking briskly down the street. A heavy rain had started so he was trying to spend as little time as possible out in the rain. Finally, his building was in sight and he almost ran for the door, but then he stopped. There was someone stood in the doorway. They were soaked like he was and had their hood up so he couldn't see their face.

"Hi! Thank goodness you came! I just moved in and I forgot the code to get into the building."

He smiled as the woman spoke softly, new people were always forgetting the code. However there was something about that voice...it sounded vaguely familiar. But with the pouring rain, Brian had no time to think on it. He keyed in the code and held the door open for the woman before heading in after her. As they got into the lobby the woman turned away from him and seemed focused on her bag. Brian swallowed before walking towards the stairs. Why was the lobby so cold? They normally had the heating on...

"I'm hurt you don't recognise me Brian."

He stopped dead as he heard the voice behind him. There was only once person that voice could possibly belong to, and she had been missing for three months. Brian slowly turned around and braced himself for what he would see, for standing by the door...was Denise.

* * *

Bye!


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Second chapter guys! I really hope people like this :')_

_Jily. Love: Hehe I hope you like this story!_

_StarkidBecca: Hehehehe here's the next chapter!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team Starkid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Brian stumbled up the stairs as Denise slowly walked towards him. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and smiled at him slightly. How could she be here? She didn't look any different. There was a deathly silence before Denise titled her head to the side slightly.

"Well are you not going to invite me up to your apartment?"

He nodded slowly before stepping aside and letting Denise walk up the stairs before him. Brian's mind was going a million miles an hour. Denise was back, she was here. Why had she been? She was wearing different clothes to what he remembered her being in the day she had disappeared and she didn't look like she'd just been living on the streets for the past three months. She hadn't taken any money with her though…

They finally made it to his apartment and Denise pulled back so he could unlock the door. Brian fumbled for his keys before unlocking the door and letting them in. He knew Meredith would be asleep by now but he had to wake her up. He came back to his senses as he realised Denise was wondering into the sitting room, Brian took a deep breath before walking down the hall and into his bedroom. Meredith was curled up in a ball and the only sound in the room was her soft breathing. Brian looked at her before moving towards the bed and shaking her slightly.

"Mere, Mere you need to wake up."

He kept shaking her until her eyes finally opened. Meredith stared at him a little dazed as she rubbed her eyes.

"Brian what are you…"

"Denise is here."

Meredith sat bolt upright, she moved so fast that she almost bashed heads with Brian. Denise was here? Was she dreaming? She didn't feel like she was asleep. A second later Meredith had gotten to her feet and was almost running from the room. She stumbled around the corner and stopped just outside the sitting room. Meredith was suddenly nervous to go into the room, what if Brian was joking? But then she heard someone in the room cough slightly. She took a deep breath before walking into the room. Denise was lounging on the sofa but slowly turned to look at Meredith.

"Meredith!"

She barely had time to think before Denise had jumped to her feet and was pulling her into a tight hug. Denise was hugging her, she was here, in her sitting room. Where had she been? Why had she left? However a moment later all these thoughts left her head and she hugged Denise back. She had thought she would never see her best friend again. They finally parted as Brian coughed from the doorway. For the first time Meredith properly looked at her friend, she didn't look any different…except for her eyes. Her mind suddenly thought back to that photo…Denise's eyes almost seemed darker and there were dark circles under them however Meredith didn't dare say anything as she noticed Denise was staring right back at her.

"I'll erm…make us some drinks."

She nodded as Brian muttered softly before leaving them alone. Meredith watched as Denise slowly sat back down. After a moment Meredith sat down too and there was silence.

"I have nowhere else to stay in Chicago, can I stay with you?"

Denise spoke slowly and didn't look at Meredith. She needed a place to stay, she hadn't come all this way back for nothing. But she needed time…

"Yeah of course you can stay here!"

She smiled before leaning forward and hugging Meredith again. Denise could tell Meredith was tense and as Brian came back into the room carrying cups of coffee, she could tell Brian's mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour.

"Where have you been?"

She took a deep breath and didn't look at her two friends for a moment. She didn't remember where she had been. Denise knew she wasn't alone in her head and hadn't been she had left The Willows but for now, the voices were silent. She wasn't sure how she had gotten back to Chicago but she had found herself walking to Meredith and Brian's apartment.

"I…I don't know."

Brian's stomach jolted as Denise whispered her answer. No one said anything for a long time as no one had any idea what to say. They finished their drinks before setting up the guest bedroom for Denise. She had no other clothes so Meredith lent her some before they let her go to bed. Brian and Meredith walked back to their own room, Meredith got back into bed and Brian got ready in silence. What did it mean now that Denise was back? Should they call the police? He felt like that was something they should do. But it could wait until the morning. For now, the best thing to do was sleep.

* * *

Julia shuffled into the kitchen and stifled a yawn as she poured herself some coffee. Her eyes wondered to the refrigerator where they had pinned various photos. She looked at them for a moment, all the people in the photos looked so happy. She sighed to herself, things would get better eventually. Julia had just sat down at the kitchen table when Jeff came into the room looking at his phone, he was frowning slightly.

"Brian's text me, he says he needs us all to go over."

She frowned slightly. Luckily they were all off today but it was still so early. Joe wasn't even awake yet. What could Brian possibly need them to be there so early for? A funny feeling was creeping into Julia's stomach, she suddenly thought of the phone call from Meredith last night. Something had changed, after five months…something was different. The room suddenly seemed so cold. She jumped as something beeped but then she saw it was only Jeff pulling something from the microwave.

An hour later, Julia, Jeff and Joe were ready to leave the house. They were still unsure as to why Brian needed to see them but none the less they were all heading over. Joe drove them and there was silence in the car. Something was wrong, it was like there had been a change in the air. The weather the past few days had been so nice and now there were dark clouds overhead and a strong wind. Julia looked out of the window as they came to a traffic light and saw a mother and child walking briskly along the street. Her mind suddenly flashed back to Regan, the girl they had seen back in that general store when they had first discovered Jaime was calling herself Isabella. Jaime, before Julia could stop herself, her mind flashed back to holding Jaime in her arms as she died. No, she pushed the thought from her mind and sniffed loudly.

Jeff glanced at Julia as she sniffed. They were all so on edge. Over the past few weeks Jeff had found himself thinking about Denise. She had been in his dreams so much and more than once he had thought he had seen her on the street. They finally reached Brian and Meredith's apartment and parked before heading in.

Brian buzzed them in and they hadn't made it any way up the stairs before Jeff saw Brian stood at the top. Why was he meeting them? And why did he look so stressed. They reached the top of the stairs and came to a stop.

"Brian, is everything okay?"

Julia finally voiced to break the silence. Jeff swallowed as Brian took a deep breath. He looked over his shoulder as he heard a rustle, it had sounded like there was someone stood right behind him. But there was no one there. He shook himself and looked back at Brian as he started to speak.

"Last night, I got back to my building to find someone stood outside. They said they were new to the building and had forgotten the security code so I of course let them in. I didn't see their face before I began to walk away but then she called after me. It was a voice I know and when I turned…I saw the woman I had let into the building was Denise."

Jeff's mind went blank at the sound of Denise's name. She was here? In this building? However then something struck him, why had she lied to get her way into the building? Why hadn't she just told Brian who she was on the street? There was something not right about this…

"Has she said where she's been?"

He blinked as Julia stumbled over her words, clearly in a state of shock. For the first time he noticed Joe had sat down on the steps and put his head in his hands. Jeff suddenly remembered all the things Denise had said in the days before she disappeared about Joe and Lauren saying goodbye to each other. She had known things that she shouldn't have known. He was sure he had even once heard her speak in Jaime's voice… Whoever had turned up at Brian and Meredith's building last night…wasn't the Denise they knew.

They all collected themselves before walking towards Brian's door. He opened it and they all went inside. As they walked into the hallway, Meredith came out of the sitting room to meet them. She looked positively terrified.

"Right after you left she started drawing stuff and I can't get her attention."

Jeff was the first to move and walked slowly into the room. Denise was kneeling in the middle of the room and drawing in a notebook, she was muttering under her breath but Jeff couldn't hear what she was saying.

"We need to call somebody."

He barely heard Meredith whisper behind him. Instead Jeff was slowly walking towards Denise. He stopped right in front of her but she didn't once look up at him. After a minute Jeff crouched down and held out his hand to her but the second he rested it on her shoulder, she stopped drawing. Denise slowly looked up at him and stared without blinking.

"Joe?"

Joe stiffened as Denise whispered. Her face was expressionless as she stared at Jeff…but she had just said his name…and it had almost sounded like Lauren…

"He wants us to say goodbye."

No. That was Lauren's voice. Those were the words she had said when the demon had let her through for that brief amount of time. It was like her words were a recording that was playing through Denise. He looked around at the others and they were all staring in horror.

"Joe he's coming back. I love you Joe and I'm sorry."

Joe lost it at this. He marched forwards and pushed Jeff out of the way before hauling Denise to her feet. The others were shouting at him to stop but they seemed to be shouting in slow motion. There was something about Denise's eyes that made Joe feel like he couldn't look away…they weren't her deep blue…they were almost black.

"Goodbye Joe."

"Stop it! Stop using her voice!"

He started shaking her, anything to make her stop using that voice. Joe suddenly felt arms around him and then he was being pulled away from Denise. He felt tears forming in his eyes as he saw Denise was smiling wildly as she was pulled back by Julia and Meredith and then, she started laughing. The girls managed to get her out of the room and then Joe heard a door slamming close. Joe was shaking as Brian and Jeff slowly let go of him. He sat down on the sofa and closed his eyes.

After this outburst, the group knew they had to call the police. The police tried to interview Denise but they didn't get much from her. Denise was now being absolutely silent. It wasn't long before it was deemed the best thing to do for her right now would be to admit her into a psychiatric hospital. Meredith took it upon herself to call her parents to say Denise had been found. The police took Denise away and then the group were left sat in silence. Meredith was pacing around the sitting room. It was then that she stood on the notebook Denise had been using. They had forgotten about that.

She looked down at it for a moment before picking it up. The page was covered in symbols. Denise had pressed her pen down so hard that some had ripped right through the paper. What did they mean? Meredith suddenly realised she didn't want to find out…

* * *

_A/N: So what do people think?! Leave me a review!_

_Bye!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: New chapter! It's getting scary!_

_StarkidBecca: Sorry Becca!_

_JillyLove: Aww thank you! Hope you like this!_

_MysteriousGreenHufflepuffAgent: Yeah sequel! Hehe and I hope this works out okay, like I know sequels sometimes turn out lame haha_

_tery28: Aww yay! That means so much! I hope you like this!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Meredith took a deep breath as she and Brian were led into the hospital ward. As the door slid shut behind them, there was silence. They walked past a number of doors, all of which were closed. Denise had been in the hospital for a few days now and this was the first time they were visiting her. She looked at the doctor they were following as she came to a stop.

"She hasn't spoken since she was admitted. However she has responded well to one treatment, we give the patients paper and crayons and she hasn't stopped drawing."

This turned her stomach a little as she thought back to all those symbols Denise had drawn in the notebook. After a moment the doctor started walking again and finally came to a stop outside a door which bore the name 'Denise Donovan'. The doctor scanned her card by the door and it clicked open.

"Denise, you have some visitors."

She and Brian walked into the room as the doctor held the door open for them. The doctor explained what they had to do when they wanted to leave before leaving and closing the door behind her. Meredith turned and slowly looked at Denise. She was sat in the middle of the room facing away from them. The room contained a bed, a desk and then a doorway to a bathroom. They stayed stood in the silence for a moment before Meredith slowly walked around Denise. She was drawing swirls over and over with a blue crayon.

"Hi Denise, how are you?"

She glanced up at Brian as Denise ignored her. However as Meredith knelt down, Denise started drawing her swirls faster and faster until suddenly, she stopped. The air around them felt so heavy. After a moment Denise slowly looked up at her. She was so pale and there were dark circles under her eyes.

"Whenever I try to sleep they whisper to me. They're everywhere."

Brian crouched down next to Meredith as Denise whispered. She looked so scared. However then she blinked and suddenly smiled before going back to drawing her swirls. He watched as she completely filled the page and flipped to a new one. But this time she didn't draw any swirls. Instead, she picked up a black crayon and started drawing stick people. There were six of them. Brian already had a sickening feeling he knew who they were and then he watched as Denise wrote names under each one. The stick people were called Denise, Meredith, Brian, Julia, Jeff and Joe.

"Nell's husband thought moving away from The Willows would solve everything. However a series of unfortunate events followed him his whole life. His eldest son fell off a horse just six months after they moved and died instantly."

Complete silence followed her statement. What did she mean? That they weren't safe? A shiver went down his spine. However he quickly came out of his thoughts as he sensed Denise standing up. He watched as she walked towards the wall and started drawing on it.

"No Denise sweetie I don't think you're allowed to draw on there."

He didn't have time to warn Meredith as she stood up and walked over to Denise. Something was wrong, the hairs on the back of his neck were stood on edge. There was something in the room with them. A second later Meredith grabbed Denise's arm and pulled it away from the wall. Denise slowly looked at Meredith, her face blank. Brian quickly stood up and walked towards them. He could see Denise was shaking as she stared at Meredith.

"Mere, I think you need to let go."

Meredith heard Brian speak but she felt she couldn't look away from Denise. The blue colour in her eyes was moving. Then Meredith was aware of wetness on her face. She lifted up her free hand to her nose and found it was bleeding. Denise hadn't blinked since she had taken her arm. Meredith tried to let go of Denise's arm but she couldn't, in fact, she couldn't move her body at all. Her blood ran cold as Denise began to smile slyly.

"Denise whatever the hell you're doing stop it!"

She felt Brian tugging on her shirt before trying to pull her arm from Denise. It was then that Denise slowly looked at him. He watched as her eyes slowly changed colour to a piercing white.

"You never asked Meredith that big question did you?"

Her voice wasn't her own anymore, it was a deep growl. Brian glanced at Meredith as she coughed and blood spluttered from her mouth. This had to stop. However it was then that the door to the room banged open and the doctor and two men in white came charging into the room. Denise seemed surprised to see them and was suddenly backing away from Meredith. The two men backed her into a corner and injected something into her neck. It was only a few moments before she was slumping against the wall and then they carried her over to the bed. Brian swallowed before looking at the doctor.

"I'm so sorry, we should have come in sooner but it's just she hasn't reacted to anything since she was brought here, she hasn't even slept."

Meredith brought a shaking hand to her nose as she listened to the doctor, however she found it was no longer bleeding. The blood that had been dripping down her chin was gone. This was like when Jaime had made Lauren bleed… The doctor was staring at her with a confused expression.

"I…I thought you were bleeding…"

"I was."

She was silent for a while as she turned and looked at Denise. If Meredith hadn't known better, she would have thought she was simply sleeping. What were they supposed to do? Denise was clearly possessed by whatever had possessed Jaime and Lauren…but the hospital didn't know that. They didn't know anything about what had really happened at The Willows, the FBI had told them not to tell anyone.

"Before you go I'd like you to take a look at some of the things Denise has drawn."

They nodded before following the doctor out of the room. Meredith felt so shaken. Denise had made her bleed and at the time it had felt so real. Although this thought caused another memory to resurface. When Lauren had bled, it had seemed like her very skin was bleeding. The demon had had such power…and now it seemed weak. Was that why Denise had come back?

The doctor led them out of the corridor and back into the main hospital. They walked a short distance to an office which the doctor took them into. As they sat down Meredith noticed the name plague on the desk, it read Doctor Mackenzie. She watched as Doctor Mackenzie opened a file that was on the desk and flicked through until she found what she wanted. Meredith's stomach squirmed as she saw the drawings the doctor was laying out looked like the ones Jaime had drawn. Denise had labelled the photos, they were all of Jaime and Lauren…

"Every morning she's been here, at the same time each day, she's drawn these two figures and always labelled them the same."

Meredith took a deep breath as she looked through the drawings. In each one they were dead, and Denise had written 'Ask them what really happened.' Who was the 'they' she meant? Was it supposed to be the remaining StarKids? They couldn't tell Doctor Mackenzie could they? She worked in a psychiatric hospital, Meredith was sure she would be able to explain away everything with a medical condition. If they said Denise was possessed they wouldn't be believed.

"Now I don't normally ask this but Denise seems to be a rather unique case. The police told us a little about what happened to you and your friends five months ago in that house. You suffered such horrible accidents, it's no wonder Denise has been so traumatised. However there is one thing, I wasn't going to tell you but after what we just witnessed, I feel I have to."

Brian slowly looked up at the doctor. She looked so worried. He carefully took Meredith's hand and squeezed it. Whatever Doctor Mackenzie had to tell them, it couldn't be good. Brian glanced at Meredith and found she was trying to take deep even breaths.

"Two nights ago, Denise did speak. The night staff heard her ask a question. Now that in itself is perfectly normal, a lot of the patients here talk to themselves but then something strange happened. A voice that wasn't hers replied to the question."

He swallowed slowly. They had heard that other voice just now, the deep growl that wasn't human. Surely the hospital was going to begin to suspect something soon. They had to, and then what would happen to Denise. She needed help but then a horrible realisation dawned on Brian, the demon had said there wasn't much of Jaime left to save and she hadn't ben possessed for long…Denise had had this thing in her head for five months…was she even still there?

"What did she say?"

He blinked and came out of his thoughts as Meredith spoke beside him. The air around them seemed so heavy, Brian had the horrible sense that they were being watched again. It almost felt like they shouldn't be speaking about Denise as she might be able to hear them.

"She asked if it was time to leave yet and the voice replied saying not just yet."

Before either of them could reply, there was a knock on the door and a nurse came in. She looked rather flustered as she looked at them before looking at Doctor Mackenzie.

"Doctor Mackenzie, Denise is awake already."

"That's impossible, that sedation should have knocked her out for 5 hours at the least."

"She's stood in the middle of her room staring up at the camera."

Doctor Mackenzie quickly stood up and followed the nurse out of the room. Brian and Meredith looked at each other for a moment before getting up and going after them. They found everyone stood around the doorway to a room which seemed to contain monitors for all the camera feeds. Brian soon spotted Denise and found she was indeed staring up at the camera with a slight smile on her face.

"Erm, I think we're going to have to ask you to leave now."

He nodded as Doctor Mackenzie ran a hand through her hair before looking at them. Perhaps it was best if they left now. Brian took Meredith's hand and started leading them towards the exit. In no time they were outside and heading towards his car. Neither of them spoke as they walked, Brian wasn't sure he could say anything. There was something different this time and he suddenly felt like Denise was only still in the hospital as she was choosing to stay there…if she wanted to leave, she could.

* * *

**Later that night**

Julia yawned as she flicked aimlessly through the TV channels. It was late and the boys were both working late so she was home alone. She knew she should probably go to bed but it was so far to her bedroom. Suddenly a door slammed shut. Julia squealed and jumped up from the sofa. It couldn't be the boys, Joe was due back in an hour and Jeff was due back in three. She was alone in the apartment…at least she was mean to be.

"Hello?"

She knew it was stupid whispering that as if someone was in the apartment who shouldn't be, they probably weren't going to answer. Julia could hear the sound of wind rustling through the apartment, but she hadn't left any windows open. She crept out of the room and looked up and down the corridor, it was in darkness, the only light coming from behind her. Julia tried to reach along the wall to where she knew the light switch was but it seem to be a lot further than she thought it should be but she finally got it and turned the light on. And that's when she heard it.

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream."

Julia stopped dead. She hadn't heard that song since Lauren had hummed it after she had come out of the basement at The Willows house. It sent a shiver down her spine as she heard it again. It was coming from her bedroom. Now she realised it was the door to her room that she had heard slam. She took a deep breath as she walked towards her bedroom door. Finally, she reached it and put her hand on the handle. She could still hear the singing, it sounded like a woman. After a long moment, she turned the handle and opened the door.

As the light from the hallway flooded into the room, Julia saw two people sat on the floor of her room. It was Lauren and Jaime. She screamed and scrambled back out of the room. However her scream caused the two girls to stop singing and they slowly looked at her. Their eyes were blood red and Julia stared in horror as Lauren slowly tilted her head to the side and smiled.

"The clock's ticking Julia."

At this Julia spun around and tried to run away but she misjudged her footing and started falling. She screamed but fell too fast. The ground came up to meet her and as her head hit the ground everything went black.

* * *

Denise smiled to herself as she finished drawing her picture. She picked it up and looked at it. She had drawn a person lying down, their eyes were crosses and their mouth was in a frown. Denise began to hum as she wrote a name under the picture. The name she wrote was Julia and the song she was humming was Row, row, row your boat.

* * *

_A/N: Still like it?_

_BYE!_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: New chapter! Sorry it's taken a while but my internet has been down! Anyho, hope you like it!_

_StarkidBecca: Haha I love your fanfics Becca XD_

_tery28: Aww haha, I'm glad you are liking it though!_

_MysteriousGreenHufflepuffAgent: Haha all will be revealed soon and ahh heheh_

_Ginny-fabina-Weasley: Hey Alice! And the ending is going to be a white knuckle ride for sure!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Joe unlocked the door with a sigh before closing it behind him. As he took out his earphones he realised how silent the apartment was so guessed Julia has already gone to sleep. He yawned and stretched before walking to his bedroom as quietly as possible. However he didn't make it far down the hallway before he realised Julia's door was open, he could see her bedroom light was on too.

"Julia?"

As he received no answer to his whisper, Joe took a deep breath before walking down the hallway towards Julia's room. Joe stopped just outside the doorway and took a moment. There was no sound coming from her room at all. Was she even in there? He finally went over the threshold and his eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. Julia was lying on her bed, she looked like she had fallen asleep on top of her sheets but then Joe noticed the large, red bump on her forehead. Joe rushed towards her and knelt beside her.

"Julia, Julia wake up."

It was clear she was unconscious and Joe knew this was probably bad. He kept shaking her until finally, Julia slowly opened her eyes. Joe smiled out of relief but this smile fell as Julia suddenly scrambled away from him and fell off her bed.

"Woah, woah Julia it's just me."

Joe was a little taken aback by how scared Julia looked. Had something happened? He watched as she rubbed the bump on her head and winced. Joe tried to move towards her but she moved away and stared at him wide eyed.

"They were here Joe."

"Who were?"

"Lauren and Jaime."

His stomach dropped at this. She had seen Lauren and Jaime? But they were dead, they were gone. No matter how much they missed them it wouldn't bring them back. Joe tried to move to towards Julia once more and this time she didn't move away. This talk or Lauren and Jaime was clearly to do with the large bump on her head. It was probably best to get it checked out.

"I think we need to take you to hospital Juls."

Julia didn't argue with Joe as he helped her up. Maybe she had dreamt what she saw, she hoped it was a dream because she didn't want to believe that they had actually been her friends. She blinked as she felt Joe gently pulling her out of the room. They headed off to the hospital as Joe insisted she had a check up on her head. It was probably best to see a doctor about it as she did have a horrific headache.

As they drove to the hospital, Julia thought over the past few hours and there was something that didn't quite add up. She had been walking towards her bedroom when she had heard the singing, she had opened her bedroom door to see Lauren and Jaime in there. Julia then specifically remembered turning around and running back down the hallway. However when Joe had woken her, she had been on her bed. Something had moved her…

This revelation turned her blood cold. There had been something in the apartment with her. This was all beginning to happen again… Julia glanced at Joe and found he was staring straight ahead as he drove, he seemed so deep in thought that she decided not to share this information with him just yet.

* * *

Meredith opened her eyes and looked around the room, she wasn't in her bedroom, she was back at The Willows. How had she gotten back here? It was night time outside and the house was deathly silent, until suddenly, a shriek of laughter rang through the hallways.

"Ready or not, here I come!"

She jumped to her feet as she heard the voice. It sounded like a child. Meredith walked out of the room and looked towards the stairs. The moon was shining in through the window on the stairs so gave her some light but not a lot. It was then that she noticed a shadow move on the stairs. She crept towards the stairs but stopped as the figure in the shadow crossed the light. It was Denise.

"Denise?"

She held her breath as Denise slowly looked at her. Denise looked so small and there were tears staining her face. Meredith's eyes widened as she came towards and collapsed on the floor. She dropped to her knees to catch Denise as she fell.

"Please Meredith you have to help me, I'm trapped here."

There was suddenly a deep growl from below them and then a child's singing filled the air, they were singing Row, row, row your boat… Denise was staring at her in horror. In the next second she had scrambled to her feet and run off down the corridor. Meredith turned and looked down the stairs as the growling grew louder.

Meredith jumped awake and sat bolt upright in bed. She was drenched in sweat but she felt so cold. It seemed her movements had caused Brian to wake as he was slowly sitting up. However Meredith barely registered him as she rushed to remember the dream. Denise had said she was trapped in The Willows and for the first time in a long time, Meredith felt she had been face to face with the real Denise. That had been the actual Denise in her dream, she felt she had had that dream for a reason.

"Hey Mere, are you okay?"

She blinked and slowly looked at Brian. He offered to get them some coffee before she told him all about the dream. They didn't say much else after she had finished speaking as they didn't know what to say. Meredith knew Denise wasn't really trapped in The Willows, the house that burnt down and nothing at all remained. She had to work out what the dream meant, did it mean their Denise was still in there? Still trapped inside her own head? Finally, they went back to sleep but Meredith knew the few hours she would have left to sleep would be troubled.

* * *

Julia looked up as Doctor Mackenzie came into the room. The hospital had asked them all to come in as Denise was going to have her first session with a psychologist. They gathered their things and followed the doctor out of the room. They were led to a small room that had a one way mirror in it. On the other side of the glass was a room which contained a table and two chairs. Julia and the others all settled themselves and a moment later Dense was lead into the room. The nurses sat her down before leaving the room. The psychologist, Doctor Bates came into the room carrying a notebook and sat opposite Denise. He readied himself before looking at Denise and then there was silence for a moment.

"Hello Denise, my name is Doctor Bates."

"I know who you are."

Denise had answered almost instantly. Doctor Bates appeared to write this down before looking back up at her. Julia fidgeted with the sleeves on her jacket as she watched, there was something wrong. She watched as Denise slowly looked over Bates' shoulder at the window. She was simply staring blankly. The lights in the room suddenly started to flicker.

"How are you feeling today Denise?"

The flickering lights suddenly stopped and Denise finally looked at Bates. A gust of wind appeared to pull through the room as Bates' papers flapped slightly. Denise hadn't blinked since she had come into the room.

"I feel fine."

Julia rubbed her neck as the hairs on it suddenly stood on edge, it had felt like there was something right behind her. Denise slowly titled her head to the side and smiled at Bates.

"How do you feel Doctor Bates? How's Suzie?"

This made everyone stop. Julia stood up and walked towards the window, even though she could only see the back of Bates' head she could tell the question had made him uncomfortable. Denise was still smiling widely at him. She couldn't quite explain what was happening but to Julia, it almost felt like that moment right in a scary film right before something was going to make you jump.

"How, how do you know about Suzie?"

Meredith felt a shiver run down her spine as Denise began to drum her fingers slowly on the table. No one said anything, no one even moved. Suddenly, the door to the room opened and everyone jumped. However it was only a nurse who seemed rather startled by the fact everyone had been so scared by her entrance.

"I'm sorry but Doctor Mackenzie, there's a man at the front desk saying he has to see Denise immediately, he says he knows about her case."

"What's his name?"

"Roland Parkinson."

Roland. He was here? Doctor Mackenzie had been about to say she didn't know anyone by that name when Brian intervened and told her that they knew who Roland was. Although he neglected to tell her just how they knew him. Mackenzie and Brian left with the nurse as the doctor said she was unwilling to allow someone who had just showed up uninvited see one of her patients.

What with everyone's eyes trained on the door, no one had been paying attention to the interview room that housed Denise and Doctor Bates. Everyone turned as there was a loud bang. The table and chairs had been overthrown and Bates was lying motionless on the ground. Denise was stood right by the window staring at them…except how could she possibly see them? To her all she could see was her own reflection.

"He's here isn't he?"

Meredith held her breath as she slowly walked up to the window. She stood right in front of Denise, she didn't look at her which made Meredith know that she couldn't actually see them. A moment later two people dressed in white came into the room and restrained Denise. Who could Denise be talking about, did she mean Roland? How could she know he was here? She watched as Denise was dragged out of the room before turning to the others.

"What if the demon is scared of Roland?"

This made Meredith stop. Joe had a point, Roland had managed to exorcise the demon twice. They had already gathered that the demon was weak at the moment. Maybe if Roland exorcised it now it would be gone for good, and they would get Denise back. Meredith turned back around and looked into the interview room as she listened to the others give their opinions. A medic had now come in and was giving Doctor Bates medical attention. But then a thought floated into her head and made her heart sink.

"If the demon really is scared of Roland and an exorcism will help, how are we going to get Denise to him? We couldn't do it here."

She watched as the others thought this over. What could they do? They couldn't kidnap Denise out of the hospital, could they?

* * *

_A/N: Roland is back?! Ahh! Bye!_


End file.
